The proposed bond issue will impact all students throughout the district and will focus on addressing needs in the areas of Growth and Reinvestment, Technology and Innovation, Student Experience and Safety.

The district is seeking voter approval of $298.3 million in bonds.

The Board of Education and district staff continually examine the needs of the district. In addition, the district sought community input through an online survey and in-person feedback event that helped the district prioritize areas of need in the district. The Board feels that this bond package adequately addresses the immediate needs of the district. The bond will primarily address critical needs in the areas of Growth and Reinvestment, Technology and Innovation, Student Experience and Safety across the district.

Projects within the bond proposal will not increase the mill (tax) rate currently levied to pay off bonds. With the approval of voters, school districts sell bonds to investors to fund the construction of new schools and other facilities and purchase of equipment, or to pay for renovation of existing buildings.

Bond funds can only be used for constructing, equipping, maintaining and furnishing district facilities. This makes bond funds different from the district’s operating funds that are used to pay salaries, textbooks and other day-to-day expenses. Bond funds can only be used for brick-and-mortar projects and cannot be legally used for anything else. This is an important distinction to remember. Bond funds and operational funds are separate and according to state law these funds cannot be used interchangeably.

The last bond election in Olathe was passed in 2016 for $156 million and proceeds from the 2016 bond cannot be stretched any further. The district needs additional bond funding to address critical needs in the areas of Growth and Reinvestment, Technology and Innovation, Student Experience and Safety. In addition, due to the opportunity to have a bond that would not increase the mill (tax) rate currently levied to pay off bonds, now is also a prudent time financially for a bond vote to be considered by taxpayers.

Bond money cannot be used toward operating expenses, such as salaries to hire more teachers. Rather, bond funds are restricted for use on brick-and-mortar projects such as constructing, equipping, maintaining and furnishing district facilities. That means that any money raised through an approved bond issue cannot be used to pay for additional teachers or to lower class sizes. However, the money will be used to create better learning environments for students in the district.

In Olathe Public Schools, we are committed to providing top-notch educational experiences from the moment our students step foot in our facilities. With more than 100 district schools and support buildings, activities centers, fields and more, the need to improve and maintain these facilities to ensure our students are learning in high-quality environments has never been more important. High-quality facilities and updated equipment set the tone for what students and families can expect in our schools.

If the bond does not pass we will need to fund aging facility projects and technology replacements from our capital outlay fund. This will require moving custodial salaries and maintenance salaries from the capital outlay fund to the general fund. Currently, our capital outlay fund cannot support any additional capital expenditures. All capital outlay funds are utilized for routine maintenance/repairs each year, salaries for maintenance and custodial workers, software purchases, and equipment leases such as copiers and vehicle leases. We do not have enough general fund dollars to accommodate this move of expenditures so we will need to reduce general fund budgets. Since our general fund budget is nearly 80% labor costs, this will impact our ability to retain and recruit quality staff.

Many of our district facilities were designed to meet the needs of the past, not of our current students and their future. A primary focus of the 2022 bond package will be to reinvest in and provide routine preventative maintenance to facilities that are no longer meeting the needs of students, including the replacement of Santa Fe Trail Middle School, general aging facility projects, furniture replacement, and more. Learn more about projects impacting Growth and Reinvestment.

If passed, Bond 2022 funds would provide the district with the ability to replace student and staff devices on a regular basis through short-term bonds that better align with the life cycle of devices. Old devices would be sold back to companies to recoup some of the value from the end-of-life technology. Funds would also be used to update and enhance the district's infrastructure that supports the largest network of devices in the KC metro area.

The Student Experience in Olathe Public Schools extends beyond the four walls of our classrooms. The proposed bond would provide funding to update all elementary playgrounds with new surfacing and would update equipment so that it is ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible for all students to enjoy the benefits of learning and play. In addition, funding would support turf replacement on district fields and additional lighting at district activity centers, and renovations of high school media centers and middle school auditoriums.

The Olathe Public Schools recognize the importance of having physical safety measures in place throughout district facilities. The proposed safety projects in the 2022 bond would provide needed updates and additions to the physical safety measures including updating the access control system at all schools, additional cameras at elementary schools and sports complexes, and district radio upgrades.

Feb. 8, 2022 is the last date citizens may register to vote in the Olathe Public Schools Bond 2022 election.

Visit the Johnson County Election Office website for voter registration.

While the Lindenwood site is under consideration, the district owns several sites that are being evaluated for a potential service center. Once a decision has been made on location, district staff will make a recommendation to the Board of Education.

District staff monitor enrollment on a monthly basis and our projections are that Clearwater Creek won’t be at capacity for another five years. We anticipate a need for an additional elementary school in a future bond issue referendum.

You can see the debt schedules and summary on our Budget Reports webpage.

Our capital outlay funds can purchase some technology items, it just cannot handle all replacement items. Additionally, capital outlay funds can cover some of our renovation or replacement needs but not all.

Olathe Public Schools has appropriated federal COVID relief funding (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, or ESSER) for the following categories of expenditures. While ESSER I focused primarily on remote learning and providing a safe in-person learning environment, ESSER II and ESSER III have provided and will continue to provide classroom supports toward student needs which have resulted from the pandemic.

ESSER I, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act - $1,738,672:

• Contact Tracing
• Facilitating Distance Learning
• Public Health – PPE, Cleaning/Disinfecting, Signage

ESSER II, Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act - $8,534,450:

• Supports for Learning Loss
• Summer School
• Virtual School

ESSER III, American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act - $18,623,159:

• Supports for Learning Loss
• Compensation for Staff Retention and Recruitment, to maintain class sizes and student support

The bonds are paid off utilizing the Bond and Interest levy. Currently that levy is 14.3 mills. This levy does not have to be increased in order to accommodate the repayment of this new set of bonds. In full transparency, without the new bond the levy would decrease to 12 mills beginning next year. This equates to $2 per month for every $100,000 of home value. We are asking voters to reinvest this into our schools versus taking the tax reduction. All bonds can be paid off with the current 14.3 mill rate and is projected to begin decreasing in the next 5-7 years and still accommodate the bonds.

Yes, the new Santa Fe Trail will be built on the same site, directly behind the current building. The exact location of the baseball/softball fields has not been identified yet. We are currently exploring several sites.

With passage of the bond, general fund dollars would be preserved for teacher and staff salaries. If the bond referendum were to fail, some of our repairs and technology needs would have to be funded from the general fund, thus reducing the funds available for salaries. Bond funds cannot be used for supplies, salaries/benefits, or sports equipment (unless it has a very long life such as the turf fields). They can be used for building fields.

The bonds have varying maturities, the longest of which is 20 years, even though buildings have a 50-year life. The bonds utilized for technology purchases are for five years to match the useful life of the asset. Turf is financed with a 15-year bond. Custodial and maintenance costs are paid from capital outlay in many districts across Kansas. As the recession hit and general state aid was frozen, districts moved these salaries to capital outlay in order to free up general fund dollars for the retention and recruitment of teachers.

Unfortunately, it is illegal to utilize bond dollars for salaries. Passage of the bond would preserve general fund dollars utilized for teachers' salaries. If the bond does not pass, then some of those dollars will be needed for necessary repairs and equipment replacement.

In addition to the noted High School Media Center renovation project, both schools will have projects consisting of the following:

• Olathe East: roofing, HVAC, concrete, asphalt, painting, exterior masonry, gym bleacher replacement, miscellaneous interior renovations, stage rigging repairs/ upgrades, intercom system upgrades, tennis court upgrades, and other noted Capital Outlay projects not identified as part of the Bond Issue referendum.
• Olathe North: roofing, HVAC, concrete, asphalt, painting, exterior masonry, ceiling tile/ grid, miscellaneous interior renovations, locker room upgrades, continued classroom carpet replacement, stage rigging repairs/ upgrades, original science classroom upgrades, and other noted Capital Outlay projects not identified as part of the Bond Issue referendum.